About us

Center for Industrial Progress is a for-profit think-tank seeking to bring about a new industrial revolution. We believe that human beings have the untapped potential to radically improve our lives by using technology to improve the planet.

Our Mission

Center for Industrial Progress (CIP) is a for-profit think-tank seeking to bring about a new industrial revolution. We believe that human beings have the untapped potential to radically improve our lives by using technology to improve the planet across a multitude of industries: mining, manufacturing, agriculture, chemistry, and energy. Every individual has the potential for a longer, happier, healthier, safer, more comfortable, more meaningful, more opportunity-filled life.

The keys to a new industrial revolution are a new industrial philosophy, a new industrial policy, and a new approach to communication.

Politically, the so-called environmentalist movement has put forward the myth that a better environment means authoritarian control by environmental bureaucrats who prioritize sloths over human beings. CIP shows that a better environment means clear, scientific laws that protect both the right to develop and the right to preserve clean air and water.

In communication, the so-called environmentalist movement has historically taken the moral high ground against industry by pretending that minimizing the “footprint” of industry” is an ideal that will bring about a better, healthier world. CIP’s aspirational approach to communication shows that the real ideal is industrial progress, the progressive improvement of the planet through technology and development–and has inspired thousands to change the way they think about industries such as energy, mining, and agriculture.

A crucial part of our mission is sharing our uniquely positive ideas and tactics with industry through training programs that inspire their employees and empower their communications teams. Only if industry starts to appreciate and articulate its true value, both economic and environmental, can we liberate industry from authoritarian government and bring about the next industrial revolution.

Leadership

Alex Epstein, President and Founder

Alex Epstein is the author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and an expert on energy and industrial policy. Called “most original thinker of the year” by political commentator John McLaughlin, he champions the use of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas and has changed the way thousands of people think about energy. He has risen to prominence as the nation’s leading free-market energy debater, promoting a philosophy that is “anti-pollution but pro-development.” He challenges many popularly held ideas about energy, industry, and the environment, including the big picture benefits (and costs) of fossil fuels and nuclear power. He draws on cutting-edge research and original insights to offer an alternate perspective on the energy debate and shares eye-opening thoughts into how fossil fuels and technology will improve the lives of people – safely, cleanly, and effectively – for years to come.

Mr. Epstein’s extensive media experience includes hundreds of radio and TV appearances. Mr. Epstein has spoken at dozens of universities, including Duke, Berkeley, UCLA, and Northwestern, as well as a diverse range of organizations, from The Federalist Society to the NAACP to the American Coal Council.

Mr. Epstein is an alumnus of Duke University, where he studied philosophy and computer science, and a former fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute.

Eric Dennis, PhD, Senior Fellow

Eric Dennis, Ph.D., Physics, studied at Caltech, Princeton, and UCSB. His graduate work involved the theory of quantum computers and simulating quantum systems. Transitioning to quantitative finance, he has built derivatives models on trading desks at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Swiss Reinsurance, where he pioneered a unified, state-of-the-art modeling framework for portfolio credit derivatives. He currently works in asset management at a major insurance company. His experience in finance, complemented by independent study of monetary economics, provides a unique combination of hands-on knowledge and theoretical insight to assess current macroeconomic issues. His interests include questions of central planning, free banking, the use and abuse of mathematical models, and the scientific fundamentals of energy.